My Little Pony EXTREME!
by Melonmelon
Summary: It's that time of year again:  Once more Twilight Sparkle has gone completely evil and destroyed all friendship in the universe!  Let's see how that goes.
1. Chapter 1: Friendship is a Nightmare

NOTE: In case you're wondering I do not own My Little Ponies. Hasbro owns My Little Ponies and all related rights. FiM series is executively produced by Lauren Frost. I hope I have thoroughly disclaimed.

Grey was all around. A column of ponies with grey fur, grey manes and grey eyes marched in place to a somber beat in an endless grey, glass tube. On the walls of the tube were grey posters with motivational statements such as "Friendship is Forbidden", "Laughter will be shot on site" and "Everypony hates you!". The marching ponies were overseen by grey guard ponies hovering gloomily on their grey hover platforms. It was really, really grey.

Before them was a monochromatic (as in grey) screen featuring none other than Twilight Spark: the darkest most evil pony of all time!

"According to my calculations we will triumph over the asinine horrors of friendship!" Twilight called, "We will liberate all those still enthralled by it's illusions! We will purge the world of the blasphemy of Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness and Magic! Only ash and Misery shall will remain in our wake!"

All the ponies pumped their hooves in the air and shouted "Ponies!"

Berrymelon Supreme was one of the many grey ponies marching in place. Not much gave her away from the others in the line, having the same grey color and same short haircut everypony else had. She was still young, but was non the less one of the veterans of the marching line. Berrymelon knew well the horrors that the friendship and the elements brought and was glad they had been wiped out long ago, but today something bothered her.

"Psst." She whispered to a nearby pony that was almost identical to her, "Do you ever wonder _why _we march in place like this? I've been doing this 15 hours a day for my entire life but I've never gotten anywhere.."

"What? NO!" The grey pony panicked and darted her grey eyes back and forth, "I never wonder anything!"

"Hey, are you two talking to each other?"

Berrymelon looked up to see one of the grey guards floating down to them.

"No!" The other pony panicked.

"Well yes, but-" Berrymelon began.

"Did you just tell me the truth?" The guard was clearly angry now, "Honesty is strictly forbidden! I'd banish you for that but this place is already pretty terrible… so I guess you have to stay."

"I had a legitimate question, though! Shouldn't we at least do something productive all day?"

"NO! Doing something productive is dangerously close to being kind and generous. Now get back to marching."

Berrymelon thought for a moment, surrounded by grey, then asked "But isn't listening to you dangerously close to loyalty?"

The guards looked at each other sheepishly for a moment. The one talking to her did a hoof palm and sighed before responding.

"You found the loop hole… Alright you're free to go!"

Berrymelon was sucked into another grey tube and shot out of the grey building.

Outside Berrymelon landed harmlessly and looks over the landscape.

"I've never been outside before." She said, "this is so…. So…"

Berrymelon looked over the horrific red and desert-like ground, full of cracks that were full of with fire. She saw the steely black mechanical trees covered in barbed wire, the rivers of acid and industrial solvent and the massive, black towers covered in spikes looming ominously over the horizon. She looked up at the sky shrouded with a hopeless amount of thick black clouds that constantly poured down murky rain mixed with ash which was broken only by the occasional blast of explosive lightning that decimated whatever ground it happened to touch.

"SO BEAUTIFUL!" Berrymelon's eyes opened wide with wonder and joy. More joy than she had ever felt before.

"So many colors," She mused, "I've read that red and black existed too, but never actually saw them! There's so many different objects! Such a huge sky! And look at all the animals!"

Berrymelon looked down into a nearby pool of crystal clear acid to see a mutated fish with several rows of teeth happily growling at her.

"I just have to frolic through all this beauty!" Berrymelon said with a twirl.

Berrymelon frolicked exactly one step into this colorful paradise before burning her hoof against the ground.

"OW! What the-" Berrymelon leaned towards the ground and poked it. It was damp with some corrosive liquid that smelt horrible.

Berrymelon could only walk around the paved edge of the building (which you may remember was grey). Eventually she spotted another pony sitting on the pavement as well, looking rather annoyed by something. The pony had very sleek looking black fur and a long, grey main that hung along her back. She was wearing black, steel books and a grey gas mask which covered most of her face.

The pony looked over to Berrymelon and changed her expression to a happy smile just a little too quickly. She skipped over to Berrymelon and ran a quick circle around her before pushing her face right up against Berrymelon's.

"Hello." She cooed, walking back and forth and changing her head angle constantly as she talked. "My name is Trickscam. You may have noticed the ground is drenched in sulfuric acid. Someone stupid and weak like you couldn't make it very far."

"Yeah," Berrymelon sighed, "I don't like that very much."

"Hehehe!" Trickscam leaned in close, "I was wrong. You are very clever! I'll tell you a secret. You can't possibly go outside like this, yes? No! But you can. You just need to be clever. Clever like you!"

Trickscam pulled out a set of boots and a gas mask out of her pony pockets. "You see? You only need some boots"

"I dunno" Berrymelon raised her eyebrow, "Is this some kind of trick? Or a scam?"

"No. no." Trickscam said in a particularly smooth voice, "These are yours."

Berrymelon put on the boots and gas mask.

"Of course" Trickscam suddenly began talking much, much faster, "I can't just give them to you as generosity has been forbidden, and rightly so, by the great Twilight Sparkle etcetera etcetera. However! I think I'll give you a special deal, one that I only offer to very special ponies like you. All you have to do is come to the next town over and sign up for, well it's nothing really, just a game you're paid to participate in.

"That sounds fair…" Berrymelon rubbed her chin, "As long as it isn't some kind of trick or scam…"

"You already said that"

"Yeah. Well. Your name is-"

"-I know what my name is."

"Right. Let's go then."

Trickscam laughed maniacally a. She then narrowed her eyes and smoothly said, "Follow me."

The two eventually come to a collection of buildings. All the buildings but one were run down hovels, just large enough to contain a single pony, covered in barb wire. The only building with any individuality was the massive domes in the center. It was made in some kind of red stone and was perfectly smooth with a single set of doors the only imperfection. Berrymelon couldn't help but wonder why there were no spikes on this structure as well.

Still, it wasn't grey.

The town was filled with ponies pushing boulders around in circles. As Trickscam and Berrymelon entered town the working ponies' pace seemed to increase.

"Well I win." Trickscam flicked her mane.

Before another moment passed Berrymelon was tackled by a dozen ponies and stripped of her protective gear.

"Only one today huh?" One of the guards commented.

"I shouldn't even be doing this!" Trickscam snapped, "I don't need anymore training like this. Twilight should know that. You derp-faced parasprites can do whatever you want. I'm gone."

"Wait!" Berrymelon called as Trickscam started walking off, "So this _was _some kind of trick?"

Trickscam looked back briefly, then shook her head and started walking again.

"Come on." The guard started pushing Berrymelon into the arena, "Time for your first death match."

Moments later Berrymelon was thrown into the center of the coliseum. All around grey colored ponies sat watching in black, spiky chairs. The arena itself was full of ash and bone colored ash and bones. One of the guards threw Berrymelon a plank of wood with the word "club" written on it.

"Huh." She said picking it up, "At least I get a "club"."

Suddenly the announcer shouted over the rabble.

"The next match is a truly historic battle indeed! In the red corner we have, well you've never heard of her but her id says she's Berrymelon Supreme! This is her first match and we have no reason to believe she has any combat experience whatsoever!"

The crowed looked rather unfazed.

"And in the blue corner we have the grand champion of the arena! She's won 5,708 straight matches against zero losses! She's killed 50 dragons with her bare hooves and has defeated death mages blindfolded! The slayer of gods and ponies! Daisypoof!"

The gates on the other side of the arena were blown off their hinges and the crowd erupted in applause as a single pony clad in black plate mail walked through. Only her curly, red mane and burning grey eyes were visible. On her back are four massive blades attached to her armor through some kind of mechanical devices. On her side are several smaller blades.

Two of the blades on disproof's back swung out to her sides to lie horizontally like part of some scythed chariot. Two lances swung forward to rest on her shoulders with her head in between.

Berrymelon looked down at her plank of wood. "Why do I only get a club?"

The announcer called out again. "The winner will be given 1,000 bland sticks! Carrotclop's Bland Sticks: They're so bland you'll wish you were eating stick!"

As the announcer seamlessly worked in some product placement Berrymelon and Daisypoof stared at each other. Daisypoof seemed unaffected by the crowd or anything else for that matter. She just starred unblinkingly, unmoving at Berrymelon and the coming battle.

"-just like the new Twilight Sparkle toy with real Sparkle action (batteries not included), available in stores this May! The loser will have her brain removed courtesy of Carrotclop's Brain Removal Agency! Now fight!"

"RAAAAAA!"

Daisypoof charged at Berrymelon. Berrymelon threw her club but it shattered harmlessly against Daisypoof's armor. Within a second Daisypoof closed the gap and one of her side blades was mere feet away from Berrymelon.

Berrymelon only managed to duck just enough that Daisypoof's blades pass over her.

Daisypoof charged forward a few more feet before stomping her front hooves hard into the ground and using her moment to spin around. Daisypoof was back to melee with Berrymelon before the newbie could even get back on her hooves.

This time Daisypoof thrust her twin lances forward but Berrymelon narrowly dodged, leaving the blades to dig into the ground.

Berrymelon took this opportunity to run up across Daisypoof's back and grab one of the swords at her side. When Berrymelon jumped off, however, Daisypoof grabbed her with her hind legs and flipped forward to slam her into the ground.

Berrymelon quickly recovered and dug her sword into the ground just before Daisypoof thrust her twin lances forward again. The sword slid between the twin lances until it collided with Daisypoof's helmet. The lances are stopped a mere inch in front of Berrymelon's face.

Berrymelon grabbed a nearby rock and jammed it into what looked like a mechanism in Daisypoof's armor. The gladiator's blades retract, and remain stuck when she tries to extend them again. Berrymelon tried to follow up with a slash of her sword but Daisypoof drew her own and blocked.

"You know" Daisypoof began, "It's been a long time since anypony lasted this long against me. Is this really your first fight?"

"HA! No! One time I fought a this incredibly powerful- this uh." Berrymelon paused, "Alright it was nothing. But it was still a fight!"

Daisypoof grinned, then slashed at Berrymelon and knocked away her sword. Daisypoof then slammed Berrymelon down against the ground and held her sword against the other pony's face.

"See that pit over there?" Daisypoof gestured to a hole in the other side of the ring, "I'm going to drop you in there then throw my sword in. You play dead until I come fore you later."

"Why would I do what you say!" Berrymelon protested, "Helping ponies is too much like friendship! I'd rather die than be someone's friend!"

"We're going to see if that's true," was Daisypoof's response, "Cause if you don't you're going to have your brain removed."

Daisypoof grabbed Berrymelon's mane and dragged her across the arena. She finally reached the pit and threw Berrymelon in. Daisypoof then jumped into the air and threw her sword into the pit. When she landed she thrust her hoof in the air victoriously. The crowd exploded in applause.

"It seems we have a winner!" The announcer called, "Truly this is the upset of the century! The next match will be a dozen full grown dragons against a single bunny!"

Hours later the arena has grown abandoned to the point no one was there. No one, but the grand champion. Daisypoof walked over to the pit and threw a rope down the pit she had thrown Berrymelon in before. Berrymelon climbed out and glared at Daisypoof.

"That was awfully _kind _of you…" Berrymelon said suspiciously.

"I don't like it anymore than you do but I need someone to help me. I need…" Daisypoof turned away, "A friend."

" What?" Berrymelon was stunned by this horrible claim, "Are you derping insane?"

"Listen to me," Daisypoof looked out at the crowd, "It's been years since anypony here challenged me. Nopony can give me an actual fight. Nopony but the absolute strongest: Twilight Sparkle."

Berrymelon just stared at this clearly insane pony.

"The problem is that she has thousands of pony death squads and I'd never be able to fight her one on one," Daisypoof explained, "Not unless I had somepony else to hold them off long enough for me to beat her."

"But friendship?" Berrymelon cringed, "That's going too far! That's what the poster says anyway."

Berrymelon pointed to a poster reading "Friendship? That's going too far!"

"The thing about posters is that they're stupid. If you want to get strong," Daisypoof looked to the sky, "If you want to be able to survive outside these horrible cities then you'll need somepony like me to show you how."

Berrymelon looked to the poster then back at Daisypoof then back at the poster again. She put her hooves on her head and groaned anxiously.

"grrrr…." Berrymelon shook her head, "Fine! I just hope the posters aren't too upset."

Daisypoof took some survival gear out of her pony pockets and gave them to Berrymelon. When Berrymelon finished equipping she nodded and Daisypoof. Daisypoof nodded back and walked over to the door with Berrymelon following close behind. The two eventually reached the exit, a door made of iron bars with a guard on the other side.

"Hey!" Daisypoof called to the guard, "We're breaking out."

The guard starred at them for a moment.

"I don't think you're allowed to do that." The guard shook her head, "I mean that's why I'm here."

"I'm the champion of the arena." Daisypoof leaned towards the guard, "If I want to break out I'm going to break out."

The guard sighed before continuing. "I better go get my manager."

The guard walked off down the hallway, leaving the two ponies alone. Daisypoof backed up several steps then charged forward at the gate and rammed into it. The gate fell off it's hinges opening the way to the outside. The two began walking out towards freedom.

"Wow. It's a good thing their security is so bad." Berrymelon mused.

The two ponies get a few blocks down the road when the guard returns with her manager. The manager looks at the gate then to Berrymelon and Daisypoof.

"Hey…" The manager scratched his chin, "They're getting away without permission!"

"I'll get them!" The guard began after them but was stopped by the manager.

"NO!" He shouted, "They're already too far away and catching them will involve running. We need a lazier solution. Release the dragons!"

The guard shrugged and pulled the "release dragons" lever. About two dozen dragons flew up out of the arena and immediately began attacking the town and it's fortifications. Daisypoof and Berrymelon are left unpersued.

"I didn't think that through very much did I?" The manger shook his head, "Aw derp. Now we have to run after them. Come on everypony."

About 10 more guards joined the manager as he ran down the street after the prisoners. Daisypoof stopped walking to look back at them.

"Looks like that's all they're sending." Daisypoof drew her weapons, "It'll be easier to just take them out now!"

Daisypoof tossed a sword over to Berrymelon before charging towards her pursuers. It was mere moments before she closed the gap and rammed into the manager. The manger flew back as Daisypoof did a spin kick to take out three more guards.

Berrymelon watched Daisypoof make short work of the guards and found no real reason to help. Suddenly a dragon landed behind her and let out a deafening roar. Berrymelon threw her sword at the dragon but it harmlessly bounced off it's scales.

"I dunno why I keep trying that." Berrymelon shook her head and started running back towards the arena with the dragon close behind.

The dragon leaped in the air and fired off a massive fireball made almost entirely of fire. Berrymelon, now close to the fray, grabbed Daisypoof and rolled off to the side. The remaining guards tried to push each other out of the way to escape the fireball but were unable to get out of the way in time. The fireball hit the ground and exploded.

As the guards went to stop drop and roll before their immolation became serious, Daisypoof and Berrymelon rose to their feet. The two ponies looked at one another for a moment, then resumed running out of town.

Fortunately the dragon had seemingly found another target and the two were now completely unpersued. By now the town was in total anarchy. It's buildings were mostly on fire and its streets were full of ponies running in every direction. The two ignored all the chaos and were soon out of town.

Berrymelon looked back to the burning town. Several ponies tried to leave as well but without iron boots they were unable to make it more than one or two steps before having to turn back due to the acidic ground.

"Looks like we're the only ponies who can make it out," Berrymelon mused.

"Not my problem." Daisypoof said dismissively, "If they didn't want to get attacked by dragons they wouldn't have been so weak."

Daisypoof began walking deeper into the wasteland. Before she could make it very far one of the dragons circled out of town and let out a cone of fire that narrowly missed her. Daisypoof looked over the flat, featureless terrain for some kind of cover. There was none.

The two ponies ran back into town and dived into one of the steel hovels just as a ball of fire crashed into the ground.

"I probably should have thought of where I was going to go before breaking out." Daisypoof folded her arms.

Berrymelon looked out the door at all the chaos. There must have been hundreds of ponies running from the dragons.

"I think I have an idea," She finally said, "If we get all these ponies to start running out of town then they can distract away from us.

Daisypoof looked up, reluctantly considering the idea.

"We just have to find a few hundred pairs of boots is all." Berrymelon concluded.

"I guess there should be enough in the armory," Daisypoof grumbled, "But only cause I can't think of anything better."

The two ponies were soon on their way across town. They reached one side of the armory with a much larger steel door. Daisypoof rammed the door repeatedly but it would not conveniently break like the other ones.

"Maybe if I help?" Berrymelon asked.

Daisypoof nodded and the two rammed the door at the same time. The door burst open like a door bursting open to reveal a room full of steel boots, gas masks and swords. Berrymelon and Daisypoof went right to work pulling the boots outside.

"Free boots everypony!" Berrymelon shouted.

A nearby pony took notice and ran towards them. She was soon wearing a pair and by pair I mean four.

"Free boots!" She called, "Hot derp!"

Soon dozens of ponies were looting the pile and the armory. It wasn't long before ponies were fleeing into the wasteland in droves, Berrymelon and Daisypoof among them. A few of the dragons chased them at first, but by constantly switching between so many targets due to their apparently short attention span soon grew tired and returned to town.

"You know it's strange," Berrymelon said as they ran off into the wilderness, "Everypony always says how horrible friendship is, but it was the only reason we escaped… almost as if friendship is actually a good thing."

"Now who's acting crazy," Daisypoof gave Berrymelon a gentle push.

Nearly every building in the town was now destroyed. The manager stood alone at the edge of the flaming wreckage. He let out a long, painful sigh as the arena collapsed in flames behind him.

The manger put his hoof over his face and said, "I was so close to getting 'death manager' too."

The dark chamber was full of darkness and shadows to the point only a dark shadowy throne could be seen. A single Alicorn wrapped in a shadowy cloak with a nice red trim sat alone. The Alicorn was purple with a dark blue mane broken only by a stripe of purple. Her diamond cutie mark and purple wings mostly concealed by the undeniably shadowy cloak.

She was none other than Twilight Sparkle: the dark empress who had long since ascended to alicorn status.

"AH!" Twilight sighed, "The sound of silence and darkness."

Twilight Summoned herself a wineglass full of apple juice.

"Looks Like I've finally created a friend-free world." Twilight said as she reclined, "And I couldn't have done it without no friends!"

Twilight twitched uncomfortably then tipped her glass to the darkness and took a sip. Just a moment later a red light labeled "friendship alarm" went off. Twilight spit out the apple juice and smashed the glass

"What?" Twilight grabbed her head and winced painful. After a minute she suddenly rebounded with much more defiance, "NO! There can't be anymore friends! Nopony could be friends with anypony in this place!"

Twilight summoned an orb that showed Berrymelon and Daisypoof walking through dark equestria.

"So what do friends do why no one's trying to kill them?" Berrymelon asked.

"They shut up until we find a cave." was Daisypoof's quick reply.

Twilight smashed the orb and slammed her hooves against her throne repeatedly.

"How dare they ruin my perfect friendship-free world!" She shouted into the darkness.

Twilight snapped her hooves (or something) and 5 shadowy ponies appeared behind her in shadowy fashion.

"Pony death squad 3042! I want these-," Twilight cringed painfully once more, "'Friends' taken care of! I want them defeated, detained, demoralized, deboned, decapitated and demolecularize in that order!"

"I dunno how to demolecularize stuff," The leader of the death squad shook her head, "but we'll figure something out."

The death squad disappeared into the shadows. Twilight turned back to the magically restored orb.

"Enjoy your magical friendship adventures while you can my little ponies" Twilight said, leaning towards the orb menacingly, "because soon the twilight will- Er... uh. Sparkle! Or something.

Thunder clap.

Twilight sparkled laughed at the sky, "MWAHAHHAHAHAHA!"

Tune in next time for:

Part 1: Friendship is Bitter!


	2. Part 1: Friendship is Bitter

Daisypoof and Berrymelon stood just a few feet apart in a dank cave full of dankness each with a sword in her mouth. Daisypoof nodded, signaling Berrymelon to attack. Berrymelon charged forward and slashed but Daisypoof blocked. The two circled each other exchanging blows.

"You need to be more aggressive!" Daisypoof flipped Berrymelon on her back and pushed her sword against the others belly, "When the pony death squads come you won't be able to spend even a moment on defense."

Berrymelon growled and leaped in the air, then brought her sword down at Daisypoof. Daisypoof side rolled and slams her hooves against the back of Berrymelon's head, causing her to fall to the ground and drop her sword.

"Better…" Daisypoof flicked her hoof dismissively, "but you still have a long way to go before you're good enough."

Berrymelonrose up with an annoyed expression**, "**How long does it take to get good enough anyway?"

"At least a few years."

"YEARS?" Berrymelon grabbed onto Daisypoof in desperation, "I have to be friends with you for years?"

Daisypoof knocked Berrymelon's hooves off her, "I don't like it anymore than you but it's the only way."

Berrymelon let out a sigh, "If we're going to be here for years I'd at least like to get something to eat? We're almost out of bland sticks."

"Lucky for you I know a lot of survival skills." Daisypoof lifted her chin up, "For example: You can actually eat rocks! Eating rocks makes you tough.

Daisypoof Picked up a rock and bit into it hard. The rock in unfazed and Daisypoof's eyes widen in pain.

"Are you okay...?" Berrymelon asked the frozen Pony.

"Oh. Yeah." Daisypoof threw the rock aside and looked around, " But. I don't think you're tough enough to eat these rocks yet. Let's find something less indestructible."

Moments later the two were outside with their iron boots and gas masks on. They looked over the nightmarish landscape, each direction more nightmarish than the last.

"So," Berrymelon began, "is any of this barbwire or fire or whatever edible? I've never been outside my pneumatic tube."

"Well I've never been outside the coliseum." Daisypoof reluctantly revealed then quickly followed up, "Maybe the acid soaked rocks will be more tender."

Berrymelon nodded in approval. "Makes sense."

Daisypoof picked up a rock soaked with sulfuric acid and bit it. She instantly spat it out and began scrapping the acid off her tongue.

"ARGH!" Daisypoof yelled and smashed the rock that refused to be eaten, "That was an even worse idea! I don't get it. My mom worked on a rock farm and always told me about all the delicious rocks she ate. Then again mom was crazy... "

"Maybe that pony has some food we can eat?" Berrymelon pointed to a vehicle far off in the distance.

The view was far too obscured by falling ash and rain to make out to any great detail but even still they could tell it was massive and spraying a thick stream of liquid in four directions.

"Why not?" Daisypoof shrugged, "It'll be a good practice fight regardless."

"Fight?"

"They aren't going to just give us food," Daisypoof explained, "We'll have to beat them up and steal it. Or are you letting this friendship stuff get to you?"

Daisypoof eyed Berrymelon suspiciously.

"No, no," Berrymelon held up her hooves defensively, "I have no problem with theft."

"Good. "

Daisypoof charges off and Berrymelon follows close behind.

The vehicle was a three or four story tall block of gothic steel covered with spikes. Spikes that had spikes on them and even those peripheral spike were covered in barbs. The two massive treads plowed through the rocks like a plow going over rocks only even more. On the tope were Four tubes that sprayed sulfuric acid in four different direction.

Ragemint sat alone at the very top of the vehicle. She was a pony about the same age as all the others. Her red fur was broken by a few black stripes and her hair was the familiar grey color that everything else seemed to be.

Ragemint looked over the wasteland. Her job was a lot more fun when there was more to smash, but now almost all the mountains and hills had been flattened and what little vegetation there was from when she was younger had been completely wiped out. It was nothing more than busy work now.

Suddenly a faint "ting" sound coming from below. She walked over to the edge of the machine and looked down to see two ponies hitting one of the wheels with their swords. Every blow was completely ineffective.

"Hey you two!" She called down, "What are you doing?"

"We're attacking you!" Daisypoof shouted up, "I'm the grand champion or something so watch out!"

"Yeah! Give us your food!" Berrymelon followed.

Ragemint just starred at the ponies far beneath her for a minute. She looked at her massive machine, reinforced with 18 inches of pony-proof steel, then back at the miniscule specks pocking it with their dull blades.

"Are you serious?" Ragemint called down.

"We already said yes!" Berrymelon shook her sword, "and we won't stop till we have your food!"

"Well good luck with that." Ragemint shrugged and went back to her seat.

Down below Berrymelon studied the wheel, noting how completely undamaged it was.

"I don't think this is working," She concluded, "Maybe we should try something else?"

"NO!" Daisypoof stomped her food, "A real pony never gives up no matter how stupid her original plan was!"

The two continued to attack with a "ting, ting, ting"

About an hour passed.

Ting. Ting. Ting.

Another two hours passed after that.

Ting. Ting. Ting.

Ragemint ran over to the edge of the machine and screamed down.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Daisypoof and Berrymelon stopped.

"Stop it!" Ragemint screamed, "That tinging noise is driving me crazy!"

"We'll never stop!" Berrymelon pointed her sword up at Ragemint, "NEVER!"

"Look," Ragemint was trying to remain calm, "This machine is the only thing that's keeping the world covered in acid. If I don't do my job then eventually it will all clear up! Ponies will be able to just walk outside without getting burned again. They'd be able to leave the towns and we'd never be able to control them all."

"Oh no!" Berrymelon gasped, "That'd be terrible. I'm sorry…"

"What are you talking about?" Daisypoof pushed Berrymelon a little, "Going outside without a gas mask would be great."

"Actually you're right." Berrymelon nodded, "How bout you stop spraying acid, then give us all your stuff and then… we still attack you?"

"RRG!" Ragemint rubbed her forehead hard, "That's it! I'm spraying you with the acid!"

Ragemint dashed off. A moment later she returned to the ledge.

"This is awkward, but uh…" Ragemint looked around, "Could you guys move over there so I can shoot you? You're in the 'minimum range' of this thing."

"No."

"Fine! Then I'll have to throw stuff at you!"

Ragemint pulled a crate full of coconuts out of her pony pockets.

"Coconuts?" Berrymelon raised an eyebrow.

"Don't get overconfident." Daisypoof was getting serious, "Coconuts kill more ponies than sharks and taradactles combined!"

Ragemint threw a single coconut down. The coconut smashed a good size hole upon hitting the ground. Ragemint continued to throw coconuts down at the tiny specks below, each shot a narrow miss. Ragemint gripped the next coconut hard and aimed well before sending it hurtling down. Berrymelon tried to leap out of the way but the nut smashed into one of her rear legs.

Berrymelon tried to stay on the move, but only managed a feeble limp. The next coconut was sent sailing to Berrymelon. Daisypoof knocked Berrymelon out of the way so that the coconut shattered against her armor instead. Though her armor absorbed most of the blow, she was still knocked down.

"You mares should have quite while you had the chance!" Ragemint said with a smile. She was actually starting to enjoy this "fight"

"We have to get up there somehow…" Berrymelon looked over the spikes, but they were far too sharp for climbing up to be reasonably considered.

"Why don't you come down and fight me for real you coward!" Daisypoof shouted up at the red mare defiantly.

"Because I'm not stupid!" Ragemint just waved her hoof, "I just want to get rid of you guys. I don't care what you think of me."

"Yeah, well-" Berrymelon thought for a minute, "You're a nerd! And you're fat and stupid and your eyes are all derpy!"

"Did you just call me derp-eyed?" Ragemint looked down in disgust, "My vision is perfect!"

Ragemint walked back to the center of the machine and disappeared from vision.

"You know," Her voice called from above, "I was just going to knock you out so you couldn't follow me. But now…"

There was a moment of ominous silence with only the silent spray of the acid carrying on. The silence was broken with a shout from atop the machine, "Fire taradactles!"

Two taradactles launched from the side of the vehicle. Berrymelon let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh good!" She said with a smile, "These are perfectly harmless, right?"

The taradactles swooped down, grabbed the two mares with their talons and flew off.

Ragemint smiled and skipped back to her chair, "That takes care of that!"

The taradactles flew back to the machine and dropped Daisypoof and Berrymelon on the top platform. The taradactles glared angrily at Ragemint.

"You betrayed me?" Ragemint shook her hoof, "After I locked you away in the darkness forever!"

The taradactles ignored her and flew away.

"Good luck finding another cage to be trapped in!" Ragemint called after them.

"It looks like the tables have turned!" Daisypoof stepped forward confidently.

Ragemint snickered as she pulled a lance out of her pony pockets and mounted it on her shoulder. Daisypoof drew her own lances as well.

The ponies charged at each other and clashed in the middle. Despite having more weight Daisypoof was easily forced back by Ragemint's superior maneuvering. The red pony was just too fast and Daisypoof was unable to find a single opening.

Ragemint swept her lance across the ground and managed to trip Daisypoof. Ragemint rolled her opponent over and stomped hard on her belly.

"You see that?" Ragemint smiled, "You're nothing! Being champion of one of those arenas only makes you a big fish in a small pond."

An infuriated Daisypoof flailed helplessly to try and free herself, but Ragemint was simply too strong to escape from. Daisypoof's face turned bright red at this humiliation.

"Maybe!" Berrymelon's voice came from behind, "But she's not alone."

Ragemint quickly turned her attention to defend from an oncoming rear attack. When she looked behind, however, Berrymelon was simply sitting on the far end of the platform waving at her.

"Huh?" Ragemint scratched her head for a moment, "You mares are weird…"

Daisypoof smacked Ragemint on the back of the head and Ragemint fell over, unconscious.

"That went well," Berrymelon trotted around the platform, "Let's get some of that food now!"

Daisypoof grumbled angrily. She was bested far too easily.

"Oh come on," Berrymelon called as she rumbled through some of the compartments, "If you're not really that strong it just means there are more people who can give you a good fight. Right?"

Daisypoof considered her predicament as Berrymelon picked up a coconut. The smaller pony bit into the coconut but only hurt her teeth.

"Heh," Daisypoof smiled and rolled her eyes, "Eating coconuts…"

Berrymelon shrugged and smiled back. An hour or so later they had gathered all the bland sticks, nightmare paste and horror cubes they could carry.

They were about to leave when Berrymelon noticed the orb sitting in the middle of the four acid spraying tubes. She trotted over and pulled it out. The acid immediately stopped flowing.

"I read that if you see any orbs you should collect at least 3 of them. If not seven," Berrymelon said with a nod.

Berrymelon tucked the orb away in her pony pockets. The two ponies got on the elevator and started taking it down.

"So I guess the acid will clear up eventually…", Daisypoof mused, "Soon ponies will be able to go outside without any special armor at all."

"Yeah," Berrymelon nodded, "I read about stuff like this. About ponies who make the world better. They used to call them 'heroes'".

"Heroes?" Daisypoof asked.

"I don't know much about the subject," Berrymelon explained, "But heroes are supposed to be fearless and selfless. And they almost never lose."

"Never lose?" Daisypoof was interested now, "Let's become heroes! How do we do it?"

"I dunno," Berrymelon thought for a moment, "But I know there's at least one hero left. They say she lives near Fillydelphia. Maybe if we go there she can tell us how?"

Daisypoof nodded. The elevator landed and the ponies ran off towards Fillydelphia. Well, they ran forward for a bit until they realized they didn't know where Fillydelphia was. Eventually they figured it out though. It just wasn't very interesting. They ran into Rarity, I guess, but… well let's just skip that part.

Days later in the endless wasteland Berrymelon and Daisypoof are just walking along outside of Fillydelphia, minding their own business when BAM! Death squad!

Five Pegasus ponies landed a few yards away from the mares. Each pony was identical, wearing a black jumpsuit with a single red stripe running down the side. Their faces were completely covered between their gas masks and a thick pair of goggles and only a single tuft of their grey manes could be seen through all this armor. They were each equipped with a pair a twin lances.

"We are death squad 3042!" Called the death squad leader, "And we are hear to cause death! Now DIE!"

The death squad leader pointed at the two ponies intensely. A moment went by with nopony making any move.

"Please?" The death squad leader asked awkwardly.

Daisypoof and Berrymelon just shook their heads.

"That usually works," The death squad leader regained her resolve, "We'll have to go with plan B and actually kill them ourselves! Introductions: GO!"

"Deathsparkle!"

"Deathjoy!"

"Deathapple!"

"Deathmusicalinstrument!"

"And I am, uh…" The last pony, obviously the newbie, stalled for a minute, "haven't thought of a death name yet… DEATH blood, doom killer madness slam blam, er bad von bar- salad-"

"You're name is Salad Bar?" Berrymelon asked.

"What? NO!" Salad Bar began to panic, "My name can't be salad bar!"

"Shut up Salad Bar!" The Deathsparkle knocked Salad Bar on the head, "CHARGE!"

The death squad charged. Daisypoof blocked Deathsparkle's attack, but two more ponies tackled her from the sides immediately afterwards. Berrymelon was taken down even more easily.

"That was easy! This just goes to show you that friendship never pays." Deathsparkle nodded condescendingly, "It's over for you two! As soon as I finish this sentence I'm going to-"

Deathsparkle's sentence was predictably cut short when something lifted her up into the air. The other two ponies holding down Daisypoof were similarly lifted up a moment later.

Daisypoof looked up to see the death squad struggling midair against two more Pegasus ponies each. She turned back and another two dozen or so Pegasus ponies were waiting in tow. Her rescuers, like all ponies, were completely grey save for the occasional spot of red or black. The wore nothing but their lances, masks and boots.

One of the ponies on backup tapped his lance and fire spewed from it's backside to propel it forward. The rocket lance fired down to where Berrymelon was being grappled. Salad Bar and Deathmusicalinstrument backed up.

"Ranged attacks?" Salad Bar looked around in fear, "I dunno about you mares, but I don't get paid enough this!"

Salad Bar ran for the hills.

"Why couldn't playing the pan flute be good enough for Daddy?" Deathmusicalinsturment cried, "WAAAAAAAA!"

The crying pony was pelted with rocket lances and was summarily knocked out. The other three death squad members were finally thrown to the ground and hit with a wave of rocket lances. Soon they were all lying on the ground unconscious.

"Another deathsquad down!" Called the most regal looking mare in the group.

Berrymelon starred up at her in amazement. This pony was clearly older than all the others Berrymelon had ever seen, probably in early adulthood. Being grey like all the rest, her only distinguishing features were her long curly hair and a mark on her flank shaped like a cloud and thunder bolt.

"Are you the hero?" She asked.

"Me? No." The leader laughed, "My name is Thunder Rush and I'm the hero's right front hoof pony. The hero is a far more amazing pony than I, if you ever saw her you're head would explode from the shear awesomeness of it all!"

"Heroes can instantly blow pony's heads up…?" Daisypoof thought out loud, "I must have that power!"

"Can we meet the hero?" Berrymelon asked.

"No. Nopony meets the hero unless they prove they are worthy."

"And how do we do that?"

"I dunno. Hmmmmm" Thunder Rush thought to herself a moment, "What's my favorite color?"

Daisypoof and Berrymelon looked at each other and shrugged.

"Is it nightmare red?"

"No."

"Nightmare black?"

"Nooooo."

"Then it has to be nightmare grey!", Berrymelon called triumphantly.

"Nope."

"Hey!" Daisypoof shook her hoof, "I may not get out much but even I know those are the only three colors!"

"Not really," Thunder Rush gestured to the skyline of Fillydelphia, "In that obelisk of Fillydelphia is where all the other colors are imprisoned. If you go there maybe you can learn enough about them to answer my riddle. Just be careful. Until then."

The Pegasus ponies grabbed the death squad member and flew off.

"That's not a riddle!" Berrymelon called after her.

Hours (or maybe days! Probably not years…) later the two mares arrive in Fillydelphia. It was the biggest city the two had ever seen. There were buildings dozen of stories tall shaped like tight rectangles. Though these buildings were rusted and crumbling built on top of them were even more amazing towers.

These glassy towers stretched far out of sight and beyond the clouds. Each one of their endless windows were glowing with electric lights. Some of these lights projected holographic billboards which advertised all the things you could buy from Carrotclop and declared all kinds of propaganda in favor of Twilight Sparkle. Hundreds of ponies road hovercrafts around the sky to build still more gleaming towers.

"Did you know that Twilight Sparkle is our only hopes?" Berrymelon read off one of the billboards.

"Not now. We have a mission!" Daisypoof marched on into Fillydelphia.

In contrast to the splendor above the ground itself was covered in potholes and ankle deep in sewage. Berrymelon and Daisypoof were glad they were already wearing gasmasks and boots.

A grey pony with some kind of harp-looking thing on her flank passed them by.

A moment later they passed two more with the same mark. These two, like the first had short hair with a tuft pushing forward and slightly differently colored grey near their ears.

A group of seven completely identical ponies, with the same description as the three before then passed them. Berrymelon stopped walking and looked around. Everypony in the entire city was almost completely identical.

Berrymelon grabbed Daisypoof nervously, "Did you notice that everypony here is the same?"

"Yeah," Daisypoof pushed Berrymelon off of her, "But we can probably just ignore it. I mean, what are the chances that it'll come up again?"

Berrymelon nodded. This detail was definitely not important.

"Now let's find someone who can get us into the obelisk," Daisypoof looked around, "Or at least knows where it is. Let's split up and meet back here in an hour."

The two split up for about an hour.

Berrymelon came up to a dark alley.

"I guess this dark alley is a good place to start." Berrymelon said with confidence and trotted in.

The dark alley was full of greasy looking ponies and barrels. Berrymelon looked over them and said, "Are any of you tough enough to get me into that obelisk thing? It's related to defeating Twilight Sparkle."

The mention of the tower was terrifying enough, but Twilight Sparkle's name was overkill. All the ponies panicked and ran out of the alley. Berrymelon let out a disappointed sigh and turned around.

A voice came from behind a pile of nearby barrels.

"You can get inside the obelisk." The voice called, "You just need someone great and powerful!"

A pony walked out of the alley, her head held high. Her fur and mane were predictably grey, but on her flank was a wand and half circle design on her flank. She wore a pointy hat and cape covered in stars.

The pony looked up at the sky as her cape bellowed in the wind behind her and called, "Someone like the great and powerful Trixie!"

Fire works in every shade of grey and red exploded all around and light up the alley.

"Go on…" Berrymelon was now thoroughly intrigued.

"Twilight Sparkle is also an enemy of Trixie's," Trixie waved her hoof and created a lightshow depicting Twilight laughing as an ursa minor destroys ponnyville, "She once unleashed the terrible Ursa Major on Ponnyville!"

The lightshow changes to show Trixie flying in and stomping the Ursa Minor.

"Trixie vanquished the Ursa Major, of course," Trixie continued, "but Twilight Sparkle fooled everypony into thinking that it was her and that Trixie was somehow responsible for the attack! The other ponies weren't as clever as Trixie. They were all fooled by her lies and petty trickery and unfairly banished Trixie from town!"

Trixie bowed her head in furious shame.

"She also made the stars fall and destroyed most of the world," Trixie added offhandedly, "And during Trixie's most spectacular show ever at that!"

Berrymelon nodded, "Yeah, that sounds like something Twilight Sparkle would do."

"Then you understand why the great and powerful Trixie wants revenge!" Trixie leaped onto the top barrel and glared at the obelisk as if to challenge it, "That's why she needs an element of harmony, like the one keeping the colors trapped. Only it can power her new ultimate spell she learned when studying the o-colt! The spell that will show everypony that the great and powerful Trixie is in fact the greatest, most powerful of all unicorns! And so Trixie will help even somepony as lowly as you enter this tower."

"Wow!" Berrymelon starred in aw, "The most powerful unicorn will help me? That's great!"

Trixie nodded approvingly.

"So where can I find this 'Trixie'?" Berrymelon bowed in excitement.

Trixie blinked in confusion then pointed to herself, "Why the great and powerful Trixie is right here!"

"You…?" Berrymelon leaned forward in disbelief, "You ate her?"

Trixie hoof palmed, "Just. Just- Just come on."

Trixie walked out of the alley with Berrymelon in tow.

Trixie and Berrymelon returned to the storehouse her friend was waiting.

"Good news!" Berrymelon banged on the door, "This pony has an imaginary friend that can get us inside the obelisk."

Daisypoof came out and looked over Trixie suspiciously. "Her?"

"Oh ye of little faith," Trixie closed her eyes and strutted towards the tower, "Watch and be amazed by the amazing powers of the great and powerful Trixie!"

Trixie's hat began to float up to reveal a horn. The horn glow brighter and brighter and above the clouds gathered and darkened. The entire town was soon covered by a sheet of jet black clouds. The clouds began crackling with lightning.

The lightning bolting between the clouds intensified until the clouds themselves appeared to be made of lightning. All the other ponies Fillydelphia stared up in amazement at the awesome display of power above them.

"And now we see who's powers are just dumb tricks," Trixie grinned.

Tune in Next time for :

Episode 1: Friendship is Convenient.


End file.
